Pacholik: Busting the Pamela Anderson centennial baby myth

I may have just got to the bottom of one of the biggest lies — or at least Canadian urban myths — of the century. Well, maybe of the half-century anyway.

Google “Pamela Anderson” and “centennial baby,” and you’ll discover a raft of references to the B.C.-born Hollywood star as the first baby born in Canada on July 1, 1967.

“Anderson got some press coverage right after her birth as the country’s ‘Centennial Baby,’ having been the first baby born on July 1, 1967,” says Wikipedia. OK, so it’s Wikipedia, but even Canada’s Walk of Fame calls her “the first baby born” on that auspicious day.

A bit more sleuthing and I find in the Vancouver Province in 2004: “Anderson, born Barbara Rose Kopetski on July 1, 1967, was dubbed a ‘Centennial Baby’ because the daughter of furnace repairman Barry and his waitress wife Carol was the first baby born in Canada’s centennial year.”

Back in 1999 when she removed her breast implants, the Globe and Mail called her “one of Canada’s centennial babies.” While her chest shrank, her celebrity swelled. By 2007, even the Globe was lauding her as “the national centennial baby.” The National Post similarly dubbed her: “the first baby born on Canada’s 100th birthday, July 1, 1967.”

Well, she may be the Baywatch babe, but she’s most definitely not Canada’s first centennial baby. She’s not even the first centennial baby girl.

I began digging into this recently after Agnes Bennett contacted the Leader-Post to tell us about her sister, born Kara Ott at what was then Regina’s Grey Nuns Hospital (now Pasqua) at 12:10 a.m. on July 1, 1967.

Anderson entered this world at 4:08 a.m. in Ladysmith, B.C. If we were to consider time zones, that’s a full three hours after Ott joined the Canadian family.

Time zones aside, if the measure of Canada’s first is the baby born closest to midnight in each province or territory, then it seems both Ott and Anderson are out of the running.

According to the Edmonton Journal, baby Rudolf Steven Schneider was born one second after midnight in that city. I thought no one could rival that arrival — then stumbled across Andre Sarazin. According to a 1999 article, Sarazin was born one second after midnight in Ottawa on July 1, 1967 and later posed for a picture with Canada’s then-secretary of state Judy LaMarsh as “the country’s first centennial baby.”

But back in 1987, the Ottawa Citizen heralded Charles Lacroix of Hull as “the first in Canada into the bassinet in 1967.” His time wasn’t included.

I’d call it a tie between babies Sarazin and Schneider — unless of course one considers time zones. But if we factor in Pacific, Mountain, Central, Eastern, Atlantic, and Newfoundland zones, not to mention Daylight Savings, surely there must have been a baby out on the rock that beats ’em all.

Firsts can be tricky. It doesn’t seem as though there’s any sort of official list of Canada’s centennial babies — at least, not one I could find.

In fact, in the true spirit of Canadian generosity, the term “centennial baby” actually applied to anyone from this country born in 1967. They all got a special emblem on their birth certificates and centennial coins. (I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to Karla, Kelly, and Kevin Schwartz. Back in January, I wrote about the Dysart siblings born in Regina’s Grey Nuns on Jan. 19, 1967 — Canada’s centennial triplets. Beat that, baby.)

As I perused the Leader-Post centennial archives, it seems there was a whole lot more excitement leading up to the Centennial than this sesquicentennial. Perhaps Expo ’67 had something to do with it, when we showed off for the world — and maybe even further afield. St. Paul, Alta., celebrated the centennial by building the world’s only UFO landing pad.

But I love the stories of the Centennial Train and Confederation Caravan, criss-crossing this country. The 15-unit train and eight tractor trailers (reaching smaller towns where the train couldn’t go) had historical displays, including a First Nations encampment, a First World War trench, pioneer sculptures, and an old-fashioned ship. The train didn’t toot but hummed O Canada. They celebrated our diversity and what unites us.

The Confederation Caravan that rolled through Saskatchewan in 1967. (Leader-Post archives)
Leader-Post archives

A railway coach display circa early 1900s that was part of the Confederation Caravan that rolled through Saskatchewan in 1967. (Leader-Post archives)

A First World War trench scene that were part of the Centennial Train display that rolled through Saskatchewan in 1967. (Leader-Post archives)
Leader-Post archives

Pioneer sculptures that were part of the Centennial Train display that rolled through Saskatchewan in 1967. (Leader-Post archives)
Leader-Post archives

A First Nations display that was part of the Confederation Caravan that rolled through Saskatchewan in 1967. (Leader-Post archives)
Leader-Post archives

I think, like any milestone birthday, Canada 150 is an opportunity to take stock: What we’ve done right; where we’ve failed, and how we can do better.

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